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This site is intended purely as a resource guide for educational and informational purposes and is not intended to provide specific legal advice. This site should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a professional attorney in your state. The use and receipt of the information offered on this site is not intended to create, nor does it create, an attorney-client relationship.

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Oct 12, 2009

When I was in New York City last week, I attended a preview of the Broadway show Oleanna. I was offered two free tickets to attend because of my blogging on this blog.

It's described at the website as follows:

OLEANNA has electrifying dialogue, blazing emotion and
an ending that will leave you talking for weeks. In this riveting
drama, a college professor and his female student become embroiled in a
war of words that takes a dangerous turn. As their serene campus
transforms into a battleground for justice, Mamet's explosive
masterpiece dares you to take a side . . . if you can.

It was an unbelievable performance. The setting was the professor's office and the only two actors throughout the play were the professor and his female student.

I only skimmed the description of the show prior to attending it, and when I first sat down, I thought that the professor actually assaulted, or at the very least, inappropriately touched, the student. So throughout the first scene, I kept waiting for signs of that to occur.

I thought the professor was very old school, and noted that he always used the word "he" as the default pronoun--a fact that I found to be annoying, but nothing earth shattering.

Throughout the first scene, the student and the professor had a strange,off kilter, slightly charged discussion about her poor grade on a paper. She was very intense, and he was quite distracted at first, but later became a bit excitable. But, he was never inappropriate--just a bit flaky.

So imagine my surprise when in the second scene, we learned that she'd brought charges against him before the tenure committee based upon their prior interaction in his office.

Ultimately, you realize that the student, who was involved in some sort of "group" that you never learned about--was arguably seeking to make an example of this professor, essentially ruining his life in the process.

First off, I easily identified with her outrage and anger with our culture. It is extremely frustrating to exist in a society where you are, by nature of your chromosomal make up, subjugated to the status of a second class citizen.

For example, until very recently, most medical testing was done on white men and only male symptoms of medical events, such as heart attacks, were studied or disseminated.

Womens' scores in musical auditions increased greatly once screens were put up between the musician and the grader, thus preventing the listener from knowing the gender of the musician.

Psychological studies consistently prove that test graders routinely provide better grades to essays believed to have been written by a male, while providing lower grades to identical essays with a woman's name on the top. For that very reason, I used to write my "anonymous" law school exams in block print, so that the professor would have a more difficult time determining my gender when grading the exam.

In Oleanna, it was clear that this professor was sexist. He talked down to women students, wasn't aware of his innate bias against women and preference for the male norm. It was annoying, but, all things considered, pretty harmless. He wasn't a bad guy.

He definitely could have used some enlightenment. But making an example of him--ruining his life, both professional and personal, was ridiculous and extreme.

Her outrage was understandable. Her target was questionable. Her methods were outrageous. In the end, the only person I sympathized with was the clueless, sexist professor.

Overall, it was a great show. Great acting and an intriguing and thought provoking dialogue. I truly enjoyed it. You should check it out--and you can save money by doing so:

According to a 2008 study of more than 1,500 law offices across the
country by the Association for Legal Career Professionals, the number
of minority partners among all law firms was 5.9% of the total, while
the number of minority women partners was 1.84%.

At 24 Charlotte law offices with 728 partners, 4.26% of the partners were minorities, while 1.37% were minority women.

At the same time, 33.3% of Charlotte law offices reported having no
women partners. That compared with 11.7% of firms nationally. Of the
cities studied, only Portland, Ore., had a higher percentage of firms
with no women partners, at 34.8%...

But these abysmal rates are not the fault of the firms. Nope. It's the client's fault:

Increasing the number of minority partners at firms is a particular
challenge in Charlotte, she says, because of the opportunities to work
in legal departments at large companies such as BofA and Duke.

“We lose a lot of lawyers of color and women to our clients,” she
says. “That’s where we in Charlotte in particular have some difficulty.”

Hmmm, maybe that's because the clients foster a corporate environment that encourages--nay requires--diversity and equality:

At Microsoft, for example, the software giant uses carrots such as
providing bonuses to firms that have measurably improved their
diversity numbers. And BofA requires its top 100 firms to disclose on a
quarterly basis how much of the bank’s work is being handled by
minority or women associates and partners.

Duke is considering sterner measures such as taking legal work away
from firms that don’t improve the diversity among their ranks.

Go figure. The women and minorities would rather jump ship than work at firms sitting on their laurels, relishing in the good ol' days and the good ol' boy network--resulting in zero women partners in 1/3 of the law offices in Charlotte.

Sep 28, 2009

On Thursday, October 8th, 2009 I'm going to be speaking at the "Social
Media for Lawyers I" conference which is being held at New York Law
School from 8-11 a.m.

This conference offers a unique and highly targeted look at social media. A panel of legal
experts who have become leaders in the social media arena will offer
hands on sessions as well as leading sessions on the inherent risks,
limitations and potential vulnerabilities and liabilities of these
social media tools.

I'll be speaking on this panel with Lisa Solomon: "6 Things Lawyers Need to Know About Social Media.

As a speaker, I've been authorized to offer my readers a 25% discount using this code: 20OAGEIA .

You can register for the conference here. Remember to use the discount code!

I'm
also organizing a NYC legal professionals meetup on Oct 8, 2009,
location to be determined by a native New Yorker, but it will be
somewhere near the law school.

If you're on Twitter, you can RSVP for the meetup here or simply leave me a note in the comments and I'll be sure to keep you in the loop.

Aug 03, 2009

This screencast(a recording of computer screen output along with video of me discussing what is seen)will
focus
on
using online tools to assist you with brain storming and organizing
your thoughts for all aspects of a case, from drafting a complaint to
preparing for trial. We'll discuss web applications for brain storming,
mind mapping, creating flow charts, and time lines, among other things.

This episode is a little under one half hour long and is available for viewing for a limited time at no cost.Simply contact lawtechTalk for information regarding how to access this screencast.

Jun 10, 2009

For a limited time, the 3rd episode of lawtechTalk, "Web-based law practice management systems" can be viewed for FREE.

This screencast(a recording of computer screen output along with video of me discussing what is seen)will
focus
on three web-based law practice management systems. We'll discuss the
concepts of SaaS (software as a service) and "cloud computing" and will explore the main features of each to
help you figure out which will
best meet your needs.

This
screencast is a little under one hour long and is sponsored by the
three SaaS (software as a service) companies featured in the
screencast: Clio, LawRD, and Rocket Matter and will be available for viewing at no cost until Sunday June 14th. Simply contact lawtechTalk for information regarding how to access this screencast.

It promises to be a great event, where you'll learn to "Run Your Practice Without Running Yourself into the Ground":

In
this two-day workshop, you’ll learn how manage all the moving parts of
a successful law practice and still have a life. But there’s one very
important thing missing – you! One of the greatest challenges you have
is making time for what’s personally important to you – your hobbies,
friends and family.

Apr 30, 2009

lawtechTalk helps you understand valuable
Internet and Web 2.0 technologies and how to incorporate them into your law practice
to maximize efficiency and save time and money.

lawtechTalk brings the most up-to-date information directly to you through speaking engagements, webinars and personal consultations. Nicole Black, a practicing attorney and legal technology enthusiast, will be your guide.

Contact information and additional details about the services offered by lawtechTalk can be found here.

The first episode of lawtechTalk is now available.

This screencast(a recording of computer screen output along with video of me discussing what is seen)will
focus on some of the best free or low cost web-based "to-do" list and
reminder applications. We'll explore the main features of some of the
most useful
and innovative "to-do" applications to help you figure out which will
best meet your needs.

Jan 16, 2009

I'm thrilled to announce that I've joined the faculty at Solo Practice University™,
a web-based educational community that will help you learn about the
one thing that most law schools fail to teach: the "practice of law."

At Solo Practice University™ I'll be teaching a course about web productivity and organization for lawyers.

The
marriage of law and technology is a passion of mine and I've been
fascinated by technology and computers for as long as I can remember.

My love affair with computers began in the early 1980s with the
TRS-80. I learned how to use the BASIC programming language and from
that point on I was hooked.

My freshman year in college, I took a
computer programming class and for my final project created the game
"Mastermind" using the Pascal programming language.I was really proud
of that project.

In 1995, the fabulous World Wide Web was revealed to me. Things have never been the same since.

I
began blogging in 2005 and currently publish 4 blogs. I am a social
media enthusiast and am addicted to discovering and exploring the
latest Web 2.0 web applications.

I find the intersection of
law and technology to be particularly fascinating and am doing all that
I can to facilitate the fusion of these two seemingly reluctant soul
mates.

Therefore,
I look forward to teaching my fellow legal professionals about Web 2.0
technologies and how emerging technologies can simplify the practice of
law.

Another reason I'm so excited about my faculty position at
Solo Practice University™ is that it perfectly complements a new business
venture I'm in the process of launching--lawtechTalk. lawtechTalk will
consist of webinars about the use of emerging Web 2.0 applications in
your law practice.

The practice of law and technology are both fascinating fields. I look forward to exploring them with you!